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Albert Bryan Jr.
Albert Bryan Jr. (born February 21, 1968) is a U.S. Virgin Islander politician and former businessman, serving since 2019 as the ninth governor of the United States Virgin Islands. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Commissioner of Department of Labor under Governor John deJongh from May 3, 2007 to January 5, 2015.
Bryan was born on the island of St. Thomas. He is the oldest of five sons to Albert Sr. and Genevieve Pilgrim-Bryan. He grew up in the Savan neighborhood of Charlotte Amalie, the territory's capital. As a teenager, Bryan moved to St. Croix, where he graduated from St. Dunstan's Episcopal High School in 1985. Bryan earned his BA in economics from Wittenberg University in 1989. He received a Master of Business Administration from the University of the Virgin Islands in 2003.
In 2007, Governor John de Jongh appointed him to be Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Labor. When de Jongh's term ended in 2015, Bryan returned to the private sector. He was CEO and President of Aabra Group, a consulting firm, and Master Strategies, a recruiting firm. He also was executive director of the Virgin Islands chapter of Junior Achievement.
In April 2018, Bryan officially announced his candidacy for governor and chose Tregenza Roach as his running mate. They won the August 4 Democratic primary with 39.23% of the vote, defeating former Finance commissioner Angel E. Dawson Jr. and former Senator Allison "Allie" Petrus. The team campaigned on restoring trust to government, stabilizing the economy, modernizing infrastructure, education, healthcare, reducing crime and poverty, affordable housing, and attracting rum distilleries to rescue GERS. Bryan led the 2018 general election with 38% of the vote and defeated incumbent governor Kenneth Mapp in a runoff with over 55% of the vote. He is the second Democrat to unseat a sitting governor since Charles W. Turnbull in 1998.
Bryan launched his reelection bid on May 11, 2022. In the August 6 primary, he defeated Kent Bernier Sr. with 65.04% of the vote. He won the November 8 general election, defeating Senator Kurt Vialet and two other candidates with 56% of the vote.
Bryan was sworn in as the 9th governor of the United States Virgin Islands by Rhys Hodge, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands on January 7, 2019, at David Monsanto Bandstand, which was built by his grandfather Ulric “Sappy” Pilgrim in Emancipation Gardens on St. Thomas. Before the ceremony, Bryan and his family attended an inaugural Mass at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral. The inauguration proceed with military parades and inaugural balls held on all three islands.
Upon assuming office, Bryan announced his senior staff and pledged to fill his cabinet within 90 days. Early administrative actions included securing a FEMA extension for the STEP hurricane recovery program and declaring a mental healthcare state of emergency due to a territorial shortage of psychiatrists. On January 19, 2019, Bryan signed the Virgin Islands Medicinal Cannabis Patient Care Act into law, and later proposed legalizing recreational marijuana to generate revenue for the Government Employees' Retirement System (GERS), resubmitting the proposal in May 2020 after initial legislative resistance. In 2019, Bryan cleared all outstanding government debt to the Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority (WAPA) and purchased four new generators to combat rolling blackouts. In 2021, he filed suit to block legislation reducing the WAPA board's size, and in April 2024 declared a state of emergency for WAPA following widespread outages. In October 2022, Bryan announced the V.I. Slice homeownership program. On January 19, 2023, Bryan signed the Equality Act prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and in 2024 introduced legislation allowing individuals to change their gender on identifying documents.
Bryan declared a state of emergency on March 13, 2020, implementing business closures and travel testing requirements. In-person schooling was suspended for the remainder of the 2019–2020 school year.
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Albert Bryan Jr.
Albert Bryan Jr. (born February 21, 1968) is a U.S. Virgin Islander politician and former businessman, serving since 2019 as the ninth governor of the United States Virgin Islands. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Commissioner of Department of Labor under Governor John deJongh from May 3, 2007 to January 5, 2015.
Bryan was born on the island of St. Thomas. He is the oldest of five sons to Albert Sr. and Genevieve Pilgrim-Bryan. He grew up in the Savan neighborhood of Charlotte Amalie, the territory's capital. As a teenager, Bryan moved to St. Croix, where he graduated from St. Dunstan's Episcopal High School in 1985. Bryan earned his BA in economics from Wittenberg University in 1989. He received a Master of Business Administration from the University of the Virgin Islands in 2003.
In 2007, Governor John de Jongh appointed him to be Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Labor. When de Jongh's term ended in 2015, Bryan returned to the private sector. He was CEO and President of Aabra Group, a consulting firm, and Master Strategies, a recruiting firm. He also was executive director of the Virgin Islands chapter of Junior Achievement.
In April 2018, Bryan officially announced his candidacy for governor and chose Tregenza Roach as his running mate. They won the August 4 Democratic primary with 39.23% of the vote, defeating former Finance commissioner Angel E. Dawson Jr. and former Senator Allison "Allie" Petrus. The team campaigned on restoring trust to government, stabilizing the economy, modernizing infrastructure, education, healthcare, reducing crime and poverty, affordable housing, and attracting rum distilleries to rescue GERS. Bryan led the 2018 general election with 38% of the vote and defeated incumbent governor Kenneth Mapp in a runoff with over 55% of the vote. He is the second Democrat to unseat a sitting governor since Charles W. Turnbull in 1998.
Bryan launched his reelection bid on May 11, 2022. In the August 6 primary, he defeated Kent Bernier Sr. with 65.04% of the vote. He won the November 8 general election, defeating Senator Kurt Vialet and two other candidates with 56% of the vote.
Bryan was sworn in as the 9th governor of the United States Virgin Islands by Rhys Hodge, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands on January 7, 2019, at David Monsanto Bandstand, which was built by his grandfather Ulric “Sappy” Pilgrim in Emancipation Gardens on St. Thomas. Before the ceremony, Bryan and his family attended an inaugural Mass at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral. The inauguration proceed with military parades and inaugural balls held on all three islands.
Upon assuming office, Bryan announced his senior staff and pledged to fill his cabinet within 90 days. Early administrative actions included securing a FEMA extension for the STEP hurricane recovery program and declaring a mental healthcare state of emergency due to a territorial shortage of psychiatrists. On January 19, 2019, Bryan signed the Virgin Islands Medicinal Cannabis Patient Care Act into law, and later proposed legalizing recreational marijuana to generate revenue for the Government Employees' Retirement System (GERS), resubmitting the proposal in May 2020 after initial legislative resistance. In 2019, Bryan cleared all outstanding government debt to the Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority (WAPA) and purchased four new generators to combat rolling blackouts. In 2021, he filed suit to block legislation reducing the WAPA board's size, and in April 2024 declared a state of emergency for WAPA following widespread outages. In October 2022, Bryan announced the V.I. Slice homeownership program. On January 19, 2023, Bryan signed the Equality Act prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and in 2024 introduced legislation allowing individuals to change their gender on identifying documents.
Bryan declared a state of emergency on March 13, 2020, implementing business closures and travel testing requirements. In-person schooling was suspended for the remainder of the 2019–2020 school year.
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